Description of Geodermatophilus amargosae sp. nov., to accommodate the not validly named Geodermatophilus obscurus subsp. amargosae (Luedemann, 1968).

A novel, gram reaction positive aerobic actinobacterium, designated G12(T), not validly named as Geodermatophilus obscurus subsp. amargosae, was accessed in the DSMZ open collection as DSM 46136(T). The optimal growth was at 25-35 °C, [corrected] at pH 6.0-12.0 and in the absence of NaCl, forming greenish-black-coloured colonies on GYM agar. Chemotaxonomic and molecular characteristics of the isolate matched those described for members of the genus Geodermatophilus. The DNA G+C content of the strain was 73.0 mol%. The peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as diagnostic diamino acid. The main phospholipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and a small amount of phosphatidylglycerol; MK-9(H₄) was the dominant menaquinone and galactose was detected as a diagnostic sugar. The major cellular fatty acid was branched-chain saturated acid iso-C₁₅:₀. The 16S rRNA gene showed 94.2-99.5 % sequence identity with the members of the genus Geodermatophilus. Based on the chemotaxonomic results and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain G12(T) is proposed to represent a novel species, Geodermatophilus amargosae. Type strain is G12(T) [=G96] (=DSM 46136(T) = CCUG 62971(T) = MTCC 11559(T) = ATCC 25081(T) = JCM 3153(T) = NBRC 13316(T) = NRRL B-3578(T) = KCTC 9360(T)). The INSDC accession number is HF679056.